VOA标准英语2014--Network-Sharing System Improves Internet, Cell Phone Connections

 

Network-Sharing System Improves Internet, Cell Phone Connections

During major emergencies, like the Boston Marathon bombing in 2010, cell phone and Wi-Fi networks quickly get overloaded¹. A group of scientists at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey², have designed and successfully tested a system that automatically uses all available networks, switching seamlessly from one to another, thus reducing the burden on all of them.

Modern cell phones have the ability to communicate in various ways, says professor Suba Subbalakshmi.

“We have several different networks enabled within a cell phone for example," said Subbalakshmi. "So we can do Wi-Fi, we can do LTE and so on, but usually it is only one or the other of these networks that is used at any given time.”

With support from the National Science Foundation and National Institute of Justice, Subbalakshmi, and fellow professor Rajarathnam Chandramouli, designed a smart wireless³ router called SpiderRadio that simultaneously⁴ uses parts of both networks, reducing the burden on them.

“It has multiple radios in it and it can access multiples of these networks at the same time, and constantly what the router is doing it is taking measurements," said Chandramouli. "It is trying to find out what is the quality of the Wi-Fi network in this location, or Wi-Fi networks in this location, what is the quality of LTE network, 3G network and so on and so forth⁵, public safety network and so on.”

Graduate student Vidya Sagar, who developed the technical side and algorithms for SpiderRadio, says communicating via different networks also improves security.

“It is not so easy to actually track down or sniff⁶ your password because someone who wants to do that should control all wireless links, which is really difficult,” said Sagar.

SpiderRadio has been tested by Idaho National Laboratory. It is now being used by the police department in Brookline, Massachusetts

 as well as in South Africa, where it serves as a communication hub in a school in Pretoria.

Its creators say eventually the smart router’s capabilities⁷ will be transferred to an app that could be installed in any modern cell phone, enabling it to automatically switch between different networks.

1 overloaded   

a.超载的，超负荷的

参考例句：

• He's overloaded with responsibilities. 他担负的责任过多。
• She has overloaded her schedule with work, study, and family responsibilities. 她的日程表上排满了工作、学习、家务等，使自己负担过重。

2 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

3 wireless   

adj.无线的；n.无线电

参考例句：

• There are a lot of wireless links in a radio.收音机里有许多无线电线路。
• Wireless messages tell us that the ship was sinking.无线电报告知我们那艘船正在下沉。

4 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

5 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

6 sniff   

vi.嗅…味道；抽鼻涕；对嗤之以鼻，蔑视

参考例句：

• The police used dogs to sniff out the criminals in their hiding - place.警察使用警犬查出了罪犯的藏身地点。
• When Munchie meets a dog on the beach, they sniff each other for a while.当麦奇在海滩上碰到另一条狗的时候，他们会彼此嗅一会儿。

7 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓